Milwaukee Public Museum Lights Whale; Guests get Sneak Peek of Streets of Old Milwaukee

It is made of more than 4200 lights to illuminate this 36-foot long humpback whale.

This whale was found washed up on an east coast beach back in 1877, and has been on display at the Milwaukee Public Museum since 1884.

This makes the whale one of the oldest members of the museum family.

Children in the audience were invited to help granny do the honors at the lighting ceremony today.

"Granny has been in the Streets of Old Milwaukee since it began, she sits on the front porch of one of the homes and rocks back and forth. Some people love granny, some people call her creepy granny, but she's kind of a character in the streets, so she will be in person to throw the switch this year,” said Dennis Kois, President of the Milwaukee Public Museum.

The first 500 visitors today also got a special treat they had a chance to check out the new "Streets of Old Milwaukee" courtyard.